Ask G

The huge floating patch of debris in the North Pacific Gyre - also known as the 'great pacific garbage patch', the 'plastic soup' or the 'pacific trash vortex' - has been getting a bit of press lately.

Paints and architectural coatings have the potential to pollute both your home and the broader environment. Oil-based paints contain solvents, such as turpsand other volatile organic compounds, and require them for cleaning up brushes and paint rollers.

The reaction to this profligate globalism is the 'locavore' movement, also known as the 100-mile diet. This is a consumer backlash that began in California and encourages people to eat food exclusively from a 100 mile (160 km) radius of their home.

A friend of mind told me that the 'spongy beads' commonly used as a filler for packaging are actually made from potato peelings and are therefore fully biodegradable and can even be used in compost. Is this true?

My wife and I were wondering how to stop unsolicited advertising material being put into our mailbox. We have a very visible "no junk mail" sticker on the letterbox and every day receive 6+ advertising leaflets. How do we stop the waste?